Forde Abbey is a former Cistercian Monastery dating back to the 12thcentury and converted into a family home during the mid 17th century. Throughout the 20th century, the 30 acres of garden have been developed.

Cost of £ 35 includes transport and entry to the Abbey and Gardens.

Timetable:

Pick up either:  Lower South Street, 9.45 am OR  Toby Inn, 10.00 am

Return around 5.15pm, traffic dependent.

BOOKING FORM Link here 

Either send an email with the information outlined in booking form or scan this form and email to visits.exeter@theartssociety.org. PAYMENT BY BACS.

Please put your name and FORDE as the online reference.

The Exeter Arts Society, Lloyds Bank. Sort 30 93 14. Account 00149155

PAYMENT BY CHEQUE To. The Arts Society Exeter.

Send cheque and this form to Lynda Powney, 24, Richmond Road, Exeter, EX4 4JF. If you are a member of Historic Homes, please let me know. Thank you.

Fully Booked

Wait List Operating Contact Detils As Below

Mount Edgcumbe House overlooks Plymouth Sound from the Rame Peninsula in Cornwall and is the former home of the Earls of Mount Edgcumbe. Surrounded by formal gardens and set in a Grade I listed landscape, the country park covers 865 acres and the House contains ancestral treasures plus portraits and images of the magnificent coast and countryside which surrounds it. It is filled with the regional history of the last 500 years.

The visit begins with a private guided tour of Mount Edgcumbe House, which was rebuilt after the Second World War when it was almost completely destroyed by a German incendiary device.  The former home of the Earls of Mount Edgcumbe contains paintings, sculptures, furniture and tapestries associated with the family over hundreds of years.  Further details about Mount Edgecumbe can be found on their website www.mountedgcumbe.gov.uk.

An informal panini lunch provided by Farriers restaurant will be followed by an illustrated talk on the four different lighthouses which were built on the Eddystone Rocks, 12 miles south of Plymouth, to prevent shipwrecks.  On a clear day the lighthouse can be seen from Mount Edgcumbe, and a painting of the most celebrated, a wooden construction built by the Essex showman Henry Winstanley, will be seen in the house on our tour.

In the afternoon we are free to explore the private Earl’s Garden next to the house, and the Edgcumbe Country Park. which includes one of Britain’s important collections of camellias and rhododendrons.  There will also be an opportunity to visit Kate Williams’ weaving workshop and gallery together with other artisan gift shops at the nearby Barrow Centre.

The cost of the Special Interest Day is £30 per person to include a light lunch with tea or coffee, transport not included.  Please reply to our chair by email (dartingtoncarol@gmail.com) if you would like to take part and send £30 per person by BACS to account “The Arts Society Totnes”, account number 48600568, sort code 30 84 67.  Please give your name as a reference.  Alternatively send cheques to Carol Robinson, Highfield House, Orchard Park, Dartington TQ9 6HS.  The closing date for applications is

1 April 2026.

We will send full details of the Special Interest Day, including instructions on travel to Mount Edgcumbe, once we have your payment.  

This information is available to download here.

Robert Hough has one of the finest collections of mechanical instruments in Britain. Over 50 years he has acquired and restored rare pianolas, musical boxes, orchestrions and barrel organs, all kept in a specially constructed music room at Aeolian Court in Chudleigh, near Newton Abbot. Our visit will begin with a historical introduction to the collection, followed by lunch and an opportunity to study the instruments in more detail in the afternoon.

The cost of the day, which will start at 10.30 am and end at 4 pm, is £25 per head including a buffet lunch. Numbers are limited.